is a 2025-2026 Japanese jidaigeki TV series directed by Takashi Miike and starring Taiki Sato, leader of the J-pop group Fantastics from Exile Tribe, and EXILE member Takahiro Tasaki, credited as EXILE TAKAHIRO. It a live-action adaptation of the manga Ninja Akakage by Mitsuteru Yokoyama.
Plot As Oda Nobunaga is working to unify Japan, his servant Akakage, a ninja from the village of Hida, combats the evil forces of the Golden Eye cult that is thriving south of Lake Biwa and is led by Genyōsai, a man who is plotting to take control of Japan.
Cast
Taiki Sato as Akakage (赤影; "Red Shadow") Keito Kimura as Aokage (青影, "Blue Shadow") Ryō Katō as Takenaka Hanbei, a.k.a. Shirokage (白影; "White Shadow") Hideyuki Kasahara as Oribe Tamon Mitsuru Karahashi as Kurobei the Black Bat Aina Yamada as Yuri, a.k.a. Kurokage (黒影, "Black Shadow") Masaki Nakao as Ishida Mitsunari Atomu Mizuishi as Fukushima Masanori Keisuke Shiba as Katō Kiyomasa Keito Takahashi as Mori Ranmaru Tokio Emoto as Hashiba Hideyoshi Shūgo Oshinari as Takigawa Kazumasu Unknown actor as Genyōsai EXILE TAKAHIRO as Oda Nobunaga The Seven of Mist Valley: Chihiro Yamamoto as Yamihime Katsuya as Kinenbo Hayato Onozuka as Ikkan Oboro Seiya Motoki as Akudoji Riki Motoyama as Toad Priest Ryunosuke Hosoda as Puppet Jinnai Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi as Yumedo Tenzen Masayuki Deai as Matsunaga Hisahide Seiji Fukushi as Akechi Mitsuhide Tyson Oya & Yuki Umehara as the Golden Eyes Yui Suwa as Okuni
Theme songs The opening theme is "SWISH DAT!" by PSYCHIC FEVER. The ending theme is "Marmalade" by WOLF HOWL HARMONY.
Production The series was produced in the spring of 2024.
The series was announced by TV Asahi on September 7, 2025.
In an interview, Miike described seeing the 1969 live-action film adaptation of the manga as a child, saying, "It was a pioneering superhero film, and the ninja Akakage suddenly entered our lives, and it pierced my heart as entertainment. [...] Rather than forcing my own internalized Akakage on myself, or thinking that my childhood dream of 'Akakage must be like this,' I feel like I've come full circle and am now reviving Akakage and creating a film with a young cast."
Describing the production, Katō said, "The filming was so intense that one day felt like a week, and I already have a feeling that the sense of accomplishment will be the greatest of any leading role I've ever played."
The role of Nobunaga's page, Mori Ranmaru, was decided through an audition hosted by LDH including participants from EXPG, a dance school run by LDH, as well as members of the dance performance group RAG POUND. The audition documentary Golden Dream was broadcast on October 9 at 2:36 AM.
The website natalie.mu stated that TV Asahi and Toei had teamed up for the new adaptation to "reinvent it as a 'hero period drama' for the Reiwa era", and the October 2025 issue of World Screen called the series "a modern remake" and stated that there would be 20 half-hour episodes. Discussing the modernization of this adaptation, Miike stated, "I think it's because it's not a simple story of good versus evil. It's set in the Warring States period, so the victor becomes good. And as the ninjas struggle with who they should serve and what they should accomplish, they form a team, and within that teamwork, they form friendships not unlike modern-day relationships, and they even end up talking nonsense... (laughs). I wanted to portray those aspects as well."
Broadcast The series aired Mondays from 12:10 AM to 12:40 AM (following the Sunday night programming) on TV Asahi. Following its terrestrial broadcast, it was streamed on Telasa and TVer.https://tver.jp/series/srairnshw0 The first episode aired on October 27, 2025. The first episode was streamed on YouTube for free without audio as a preview.
Episodes Episode numberBroadcast dateEpisode titleTeleplayDirectorEpisode 1October 27, 2025その男、忍び ("The Ninja")Yūsuke WatanabeTakashi MiikeEpisode 2November 3, 2025信長の影 ("Nobunaga's Shadow")Episode 3November 10, 2025赤影参上 ("Akakage Reporting for Duty")Episode 4November 17, 2025決戦、千年蟇 ("The Final Battle with the Thousand-Year Toad")Episode 5November 24, 2025金目教の罠 ("The Golden Eye Cult's Trap")Mari TakuraHiroki KashiwagiEpisode 6December 1, 2025黒蝙蝠の娘 ("The Black Bat's Daughter")Episode 7December 15, 2025織辺多門と南蛮大筒 ("Oribe Tamon and the Western Cannon")Yūsuke WatanabeEpisode 8December 22, 2025幻妖斎の正体 ("Genyōsai's True Identity")Episode 9January 12, 2026滝川一益の秘密 ("The Secret of Takigawa Kazumasu")Ryūsuke KurahashiEpisode 10January 19, 2026霞谷への物語 ("Story for Mist Valley")Episode 11January 26, 2026金目像の悪夢 ("Nightmare of the Golden-Eyed Statue")Episode 12February 2, 2026急襲、本能寺 ("Surprise Attack at Honnō Temple")Mari TakuraEpisode 13February 9, 2026散りゆく影 ("Scattered Shadows")Yūsuke WatanabeKatsuya WatanabeEpisode 14February 16, 2026新たな白影 ("The New White Shadow")Episode 15February 23, 2026七人衆最後の一人 ("The Last of the Seven")Episode 16March 2, 2026運命にあらがえ ("Defy Fate")Episode 17March 9, 2026闇姫の最期 ("Yamihime's Final Moments")Hiroki KashiwagiEpisode 18March 16, 2026秀吉の決断 ("Hideyoshi's Decision")Episode 19March 23, 2026最終決戦 ("The Final Showdown")Episode 20March 30, 2026そこに咲く花 ("The Flowers That Bloom There")
References
External links
Masked Ninja Akakage on eiga.com